Jailing of Mentally Ill

Your series “Hospital of Last Resort” (front page, Aug. 25-26) is a tribute to The Times’ understanding of the shambles known as our mental health system.

The metamorphosis of the Los Angeles County Jail to mental hospital came as a direct result of tighter and tighter interpretations of the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act, under which a neuro-biologically disordered (mentally ill) victim cannot be involuntarily treated until he becomes an immediate danger to himself or others. Immediate danger has been translated to mean they have ceased feeding themselves (frequently out of our dumpsters) or, as in the case of my sister-in-law, Bette Maderia, when she shot the bullet which murdered her 78-year-old mother last October.

Your second installment said frequently the mentally ill will commit minor crimes to gain access to the jail and their subsequent medications. Unfortunately, those sufferers sufficiently aware of their need for medical treatment are in the minority. Most wander the streets in their delusions until those delusions cause them to become victims, or to dangerously victimize, as did Bette.

Bette, by the way, is now receiving the very medication that could have prevented our family tragedy. The court ruled her unable to aid in her own defense and has temporarily committed her to Patton State Hospital for the treatment we asked for but could not receive prior to the murder due to our archaic involuntary commitment laws.

CARLA McLELLAND JACOBS

Costa Mesa